Bike pro admits trafficking

Giove, 37, could receive jail term after pleading guilty in pot conspiracy

BY BRENDAN J. LYONS Senior writer

Published 1:00 am, Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Former mountain biking world champion Melissa Giove on Monday admitted her role in a marijuana trafficking ring. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Giove, of Chesapeake, Va., and 30-year-old Eric Canori of Wilton were charged in June with conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. (File photo)

Former mountain biking world champion Melissa Giove on Monday...

Authorities said they seized nearly 400 pounds of pot from a truck driven by former mountain biking world champion Melissa "Missy" Giove and from Eric Canori's home outside Saratoga Springs in June. (File photo from U.S. Depatment of Justice)

ALBANY -- A one-time champion mountain biker who was arrested in June for her role in a massive marijuana trafficking conspiracy pleaded guilty Monday to federal criminal charges that could put her in prison for up to five years.

Melissa Giove, 37, a colorful athlete once regarded as the fastest female mountain biker in the world, was arrested in Saratoga County as part of a marijuana conspiracy that was funneling large quantities of the drug from California to the East Coast.

Giove, who has been free on bail, admitted Monday in U.S. District Court that she had taken part in a three-year distribution conspiracy in which couriers worked under the direction of her and an alleged co-conspirator, Eric Canori of Wilton.

The conspiracy unraveled in June when a man who had been hired by Giove to drive more than 350 pounds of marijuana from San Francisco to Albany was arrested by state troopers in Moline, Ill. The man, who was not identified in Giove's court case, agreed to cooperate with police and federal agents.

Giove, according to her plea agreement, was to be paid $30,000 plus travel expenses for her efforts to coordinate the smuggling of the drugs across the country. She was to be paid by Canori, according to court records.

The courier told police he was to be paid up to $3,000 to drive the Ford F-150 and its illicit cargo across the country. He said Giove, who sometimes followed the truck in a separate car but was careful to never ride in the delivery vehicle, had instructed him to drive below the posted speed limit.

The marijuana was stuffed in a box trailer that was lined with dry ice to throw off drug-sniffing dogs, but it did not work and a canine discovered the cargo when Illinois troopers stopped the truck.

Giove, who lives in Chesapeake, Va., communicated with the drug courier by cell phone and text messages as he continued driving east with police and federal agents tracking his every move.

On June 16, DEA agents were watching when the courier and Giove met at a Hilton Hotel near the Albany International Airport. Giove climbed into the truck and drove north with the courier into Saratoga County.

Giove dropped off the DEA's cooperator at a bookstore in Wilton and minutes later she picked up Canori at a grocery store.

But after the pair began unloading their cargo at Canori's house on Preserve Way in Wilton they knew something was wrong. Giove called the courier and told him to "make wings," which court papers said was "code for saying that the drug operation had been compromised by authorities."

Giove and Canori were arrested immediately. Agents seized 30 to 50 pounds of marijuana from Canori's house, not including the more than 350 pounds of marijuana they had taken from the truck in Illinois. They also seized more than $1 million from a duffel bag and shoe boxes in Canori's house.

Federal agents who searched Canori's house last June said the marijuana they found there was packaged in plastic bags similar to those found in the truck in Illinois. Agents also found a money-counting machine, bank statements from foreign banks and maps indicating the location of storage units around the country.

The drug delivery was part of a distribution conspiracy that began in 2006, according to Giove's plea agreement. Giove faces up to 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million. But under the plea agreement, Giove agreed she would not appeal any sentence of more than 60 months behind bars.

Giove remains free on bail. Sentencing was set for March 25.

Canori was indicted, along with Giove and a third suspect, on marijuana distribution charges. He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bail. His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 8 in Albany.